OUR FAMILY

Chef/Owner - Justin

Growing up in the Philadelphia area, I figured out early that there are two kinds of people in this world. People who eat to live and people who live to eat. My love of food started as a child helping my mom in the kitchen and taking an interest in all of the latest greatest restaurants. Instead of following my culinary dream I took the circuitous route going to college for and developing a career in management. However, I reached a point where I felt burnt out. I quickly decided to leave my job and move to Northern California to learn about farming and organics. I came back east after a year and studied holistic nutrition in NYC. I was then lucky enough to be accepted to the Natural Gourmet Institute for Health and Culinary Arts in New York. 

I completed culinary school and apprenticed under my father-in-law Tom as well as Swiss chocolatier Jean Pierre Meyenberg. The past 15 years I have been honing my craft and developing the business plan for the evolution of Naked Chocolate. My epiphany moment came when I was selected with 8 other chocolatiers from across the country to Ecuador to witness the cacao harvest. The trip proved to be both educational and inspirational. I realized that the finished product was not the whole part of the puzzle. Responsibly sourcing the best cacao in the world from small family farms via direct trade became our mission. We believe that ensuring proper wages for the hard working cacao farmers is not only the right thing to do, but it is also imperative for the sustainability of cacao. I am a complete student of the game. I love connecting with other chocolatiers and customers and have been incredibly lucky to have made so many wonderful friendships along the way.  I currently reside in Pipersville, PA with my wife and two kids and rescue puppy Freida.

Chef Rachael

Ewa

Naked Chocolate Visionaries

Justin/Tom/Stan